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LibrePods for AirPods
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OMG Ubuntu ☛ Use AirPods Pro Features on GNU/Linux with LibrePods
Using Fashion Company Apple AirPods Pro on GNU/Linux is easy enough, right? You pair them over Bluetooth and listen away – except, not quite. Many features of these gleaming white buds only work on macOS and iOS, meaning that using AirPods Pro on GNU/Linux comes with functional limitations: no active noise cancellation (ANC), transparency mode, ear detection or even reliable battery level reporting. If you own a pair of AirPods Pro (any generation), chances are those are the key features you paid for, and you want to use them as more than basic bluetooth headphones on Linux.
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The Verge ☛ AirPods’ best features come to Android and Linux with free app
You no longer need an iPhone to get the most out of AirPods. Apple’s AirPods provide a basic listening experience when paired to non-Apple devices, but the free LibrePods app, developed by Kavish Devar, unlocks features like ear detection, head gestures, and customizations on Android and Linux devices, as spotted by Android Authority.
LibrePods was created by reverse engineering the AirPods’ proprietary protocols, and it works by making the wireless headphones think they’re connected to an Apple device so they share device status info that’s typically only made accessible to Apple’s various operating systems. Other features LibrePods unlock includes conversational awareness that will lower the volume while you’re speaking, switching between noise control modes, accurate battery level info, customizations like accessibility settings and renaming your headphones, hearing aid mode, and multi-device connectivity.